If it seems like there have been a lot of accidents and lane closures recently around the Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge, that's because there have been.

The interstate on and around the bridge saw an approximately 50 percent uptick in "incidents" in July, according to the state Department of Transportation and Development. That includes crashes, and other issues like stalled cars or debris in the roadway.

In an average month, the bridge and surrounding interstate will see about 50 such incidents, said Kirk Gallien, deputy assistant secretary of operations. But in July, there were 76.

There doesn't appear to be a particular reason for the uptick -- the area saw a similar increase in March of last year, but it went back down.

"Incidents or crashes are kind of random in nature, so you may end up having a cluster of them together, then longer periods of times when you have lesser numbers," Gallien said.

He added that DOTD has been working to clear the crashes up faster, and has about a 20 minute average response time to clear affected lanes. DOTD has also added an additional Motorist Assistance Patrol vehicle in the area. Still, residual traffic problems can last for hours, especially if the accident happens right before the evening commute.